Automated silage feeding robots - science fiction or the future?

In a not too distant article, I looked at the pros and cons of self feed silage for dairy cows. Spoiler Alert - if you haven’t read that one (and you’re in anyway interested in the subject) go and have a look now because I’m going to cut to the chase here. I am not a great fan of self feeding silage, but I can appreciate there are lots of good reasons you might be tempted to cut out the cost and drudgery of monotonous tasks like feeding cows. If you’re not tempted to self feed cows, what other options are there to feed housed dairy cows that don’t include a feeder wagon, tractor and loader that can still free up some time?

Feeding cows by GEA robot

Are robots the answer to feeding dairy cows?

Not too long ago, robots were confined to realms of science fiction and just maybe a car factory. Today they are common place in manufacturing and warehousing, and there is a chance that dairy farmers will have considered the possibility of utilising them to milk the girls. Robots even mow (posh?) peoples lawns and vacuum their carpets too so why not use them to deliver dinners to the cows? Is this a step too far or are we about to realise the joy of another automated labour saver?

Is automated silage feeding fact or fiction?

Feeding robots are real and they have been for quite a while - not the robots that push silage back to the feed fence, ones that actually feed the cows. Nottingham University was experimenting with them about 20 years ago and a study was carried out by the DLG in 2011 so there has been plenty of time to iron out the bugs. But hang on a moment, if they have been around for so long, why haven’t they caught on? Well I guess I’m not giving too much away by disclosing that some of the really early attempts to feed by robots were not a roaring success. Then neither were the early attempts to milk by robots and to scrape slurry by robots. Now today most of us know someone who has cows milked by robots, and many have at least seen slurry robots at a show or exhibition.

So is it time to consider feeding robots too?

Well a quick bit of Google research reveals quite a number of companies who think it is high time you considered feeding your cows by robots. So what are the benefits and pitfalls of this sort of technology? Firstly the benefits are in saving labour running around a TMR wagon and dispensing dinners for half of the day. That saving is pretty obvious but unlike self feeding silage, there isn’t likely to be a saving in plant and machinery costs because the robot solution is still pretty reliant on machinery…. It might take some complicated maths to add up the potential savings but don’t forget that there are also some significant benefits that are trumpeted by the manufacturers.

Feeding cows to be happy

The idea of not being tied to the diet feeder might make you very happy, but robot feeders are supposed to make the cows happy too. The theory is that the cows are fed little and often and that this regular supply of fresh ration takes away most of the competition at the feed fence. This makes dominant cows less aggressive and timid animals less fearful - both of which has a positive result on productivity. The feedback from users would seem to concur with the theory here because the farmers that do adopt robot feeding often report how much more relaxed and calm the cows are once they switch to automation. There is also plenty of science to back this up because regularly feeding cows promotes much more stable rumen ph with all the associated benefits this can produce.

Robots also keep the feed fence fresh by pushing forage back towards the mouths and encouraging greater intakes. But how do you make this work and what does a fully automated silage feeding solution require?

Suspended Triolet feeding carts

Meals on wheels or flying fine dining?

The “robot” in an automated silage feeding system can be a bit disappointing because it’s basically just a mini diet feeder without a tractor. In someways this is a benefit because the industry is familiar with the nuts and bolts of a diet feeder so fixing it isn’t so scary. The robot gets around the farm under its own steam usually on its own battery powered wheels or direct from a powered track or suspended under overhead tracks. This solution is much more expensive but it does allow the feed cart to travel up and down slopes more easily or to even fly straight over the cows to cut down cycle times. This principal of delivery is very common in many factories handling bulk materials so it should be able to stand up to the conditions found on a dairy farm.

Wheeled robots are more flexible and “affordable” but they do require a relatively level and smooth surface to travel on. This technology isn’t new either because this type of system is also very common in large factories and warehousing. Just like the slurry robot, the unit recharges once it makes its way back to the docking station at the kitchen and has sensors to halt progress if it detects an obstacle in its path.

Kuhn Aura undergoing trials

Back to the kitchen for a refill

Kuhn are trailing a driverless self filling robot that loads at the silage clamp face but most other manufactures are concentrating on the kitchen concept. The robot shuttles between the “kitchen” and the cows, delivering rations formulated and mixed specifically for the animal group it’s going to. So the kitchen is critical to the system. A kitchen usually comprises several bulk hoppers that contain the ration components, grass silage, maize, straights and minerals. These are dispensed into the mini diet feeder and mixed en-route to the feed fence. Just about the only job that needs a human to complete is restocking the kitchen with the bulk materials although there are automated systems that can do that too.

Automated feed kitchen by GEA

A feed kitchen shouldn’t compromise silage quality either, well not if it’s used correctly. Some manufactures suggest that the kitchen can hold up to five days supply of raw ingredients but who the hell wants to be feeding five day old silage? Use it properly and maybe you shouldn’t see any difference in the quality of the silage put in front of the cows. The mechanics of the kitchen are generally very similar to the kit employed to feed an AD plant so once again the robot system is just utilising existing tried and tested technology.

So why hasn’t robot feeding diary cows really taken off?

The cost saving offered by a robotised feed delivery system is attractive but it may be surprising that this stuff remains niche whilst robots milking of cows is now common place. One of the stumbling blocks can be the very nature of dairy farm development. Most dairy farms evolve and develop over decades. Ditching the parlour and installing robots top milk the cows is a major upheaval but it might just be child’s play compared to the switch to automated silage delivery. That’s why most of the systems are integrated into a green field developments. This gives the designers the opportunity to maximise some of the benefits using a robot feed delivery.

Saving space by using robots

As the robot is a “mini diet feeder” it takes up much less space than a tractor and mixer wagon. This enables the passageways to be formed in a layout that saves some (expensive) floor space. More importantly this also allows the ventilation of the building to be less compromised when compared to a tractor fed system. This is maybe not the place to get into ventilation - and I’m no expert - but the real experts will be able to explain just what a difference a well designed ventilation solution can make to production and efficiency of the housed stock.

Triolet Robots require less space than a tractor

Is automated silage feeding the future?

Automation is probably the future for feeding dairy cows, just as automation is the future for milking them and scraping out their slurry. Just how quickly the technology becomes common place is more difficult to predict. I would always recommend a degree of flexibility is built into any system so I’m a fan of loading the kitchen with a telehandler and shear grab because on the day it all goes wrong you still have something that can take silage to hungry animals.

Maybe the future is cows milked, fed and cleaned out by robots, all powered by solar roof sheets on the building. With a farmer running round with a laptop rather than an adjustable spanner - oh and a rag to clean those sensors too. Now if only there was a way to automate the calving…..

If you want to discuss how to evaluate the possibilities by switching to automated silage feeding or to discuss any other topics covered in this series, then please contact me at jeremy@silageconsultant.co.uk